Ultrasonic humidifier anti algae treatment

nightanole

nightanole

Chameleon Enthusiast
So its becoming that time of year again...

Im looking for ways to keep algae growth down in the humidifier, and reduce the need to clean it.

So far i have come up with 2 ideas.

To purify water you need to make it 200 PPM with hydrogen peroxide. You can not use the 3% stuff at the drugstore, as it has stabilizers in it. But you can use the 12% food grade stuff. So that would be 2ml into 1.2L of water. And it would lose its anti bacterial/algae properties after about 8 hours. And the hydrogen peroxide (if there is any) would be destroyed by the ultra sonics.

Now the other way is to use sodium percarbonate. This is not "oxi-clean" that is only 1/3 sodium percarbonate. When added to water it turns into hydrogen peroxide and soda ash. Soda ash is added to acidic (6-6.5) city/well water to bring it back to 7(neutral). Sodium percarbonate has been added to fish ponds to keep algae and parasites down. To be considered "fish happy" the Ph peak needs to be below 9.5. To get a ph of 9, you need to add 1mg to 1L of distilled water, or 10mg to 1L of well/city water. This is due to buffer capacity of different water. And just like hydrogen peroxide, it stops killing bacteria/algae after about 8 hours.
 
Are we talking about thevfoggers we run overnight? If so, would the fog from either of these cause issues with the lizards ?
And although it may be dissapated in 8 hours, it will have killed any existing algae/nasties?
I have to refill my foggers about every third day. Wouldn't one treatment every three be enough to kill off anything starting to grow?
It seems algae and the like doesn't really get a hold and take off for a number of days.
 
Tige21v said:
Are we talking about thevfoggers we run overnight? If so, would the fog from either of these cause issues with the lizards ?
And although it may be dissapated in 8 hours, it will have killed any existing algae/nasties?
I have to refill my foggers about every third day. Wouldn't one treatment every three be enough to kill off anything starting to grow?
It seems algae and the like doesn't really get a hold and take off for a number of days.
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That is my thinking. After a few hours everything is dead. After 8 hours it stops killing things, but now everything is dead already, so nothing to start growing. Plus the solution is a lot more diluted vs what you rinse your mouth out with. And even if there still was some live hydrogen peroxide that got into the air, hydrogen peroxide breathing therapy for humans is the 12% food grade stuff diluted 20:1 popped into the same ultrasonic humidifier. My concentration is diluted 600:1 (like 2 3cc syringes squirted into a gallon of water) and is hours and hours old, so over half the peroxide is gone even at the 3-4 hour mark.
 
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I gues this could also be used in the MistKing reservoir? I try to only add enough water to get me through a few days.
 
4klxzz.jpg
 
nightanole said:
I never had a problem with a container that never got light, but yea it would work.
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Algae is not an issue, but I do get a little bit some kind of bacterial buildup in the reservoir. It seems to like to form on the mistking strainer
 
nightanole said:
Im looking for ways to keep algae growth down in the humidifier, and reduce the need to clean it.
Click to expand...
How often do you have to clean one of those? Or a MistKing res. I've been running the MK for a couple weeks, but haven't noticed anything growing (or smelling) yet.

Can't say the same for the drain water, but some of that has percolated through potting soil.
 
Klyde O'Scope said:
How often do you have to clean one of those? Or a MistKing res. I've been running the MK for a couple weeks, but haven't noticed anything growing (or smelling) yet.

Can't say the same for the drain water, but some of that has percolated through potting soil.
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With a humdifier you are lucky to make it 10 days before you get lots of floaties.

Here is me around 2-3 weeks...

IMG_20200217_170705.jpg
 
Ok running the numbers for "tough algae" pond treatment, you need 0.005 ounces of sodium percarbonate per gallon. That is 140mg. By comparison a house hold cleaning solution of the stuff is 4 oz per gallon.

That is not a lot, its like 30-40 granules.

Im currently cleaning it out by running .1 oz per gallon, and the basement hasnt smelled this fresh and clean in years :)


Or if you want to play by the rules:
NSF permits use of this product as an algicide at a maximum use rate of 33 mg/L
 
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I let mine dry in the sun periodically, monthly maybe, I never get any serious floaties but it can smell like mildew. I get that most people have a winter to contend with. This is has potential.
 
Tige21v said:
So what would the dilution rate be for 35% hydrogen peroxide?
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Oh boy you have the hard stuff...

2ml into 1.2L of water is 12%

Your stuff is 2.92 X as concentrated

So about 3 times less than 2ml....

.6849mL into 1.2 L

1ml : 1.752 L


1ml : 0.46282944 gallons


2.16ml per gallon :)

And a ml is also a cc, So it should be easy to get a 1-5ml syringe for measuring. It would basically be 2 squirts of my birds 1ml syringe per gallon :)




Oh god the jr high math, now my brain hurts
 
nightanole said:
Oh boy you have the hard stuff...

2ml into 1.2L of water is 12%

Your stuff is 2.92 X as concentrated

So about 3 times less than 2ml....

.6849mL into 1.2 L

1ml : 1.752 L


1ml : 0.46282944 gallons


2.16ml per gallon :)

And a ml is also a cc, So it should be easy to get a 1-5ml syringe for measuring. It would basically be 2 squirts of my birds 1ml syringe per gallon :)




Oh god the jr high math, now my brain hurts
Click to expand...
Ya, as son as I posted it, I remembered you had given the dilution ratio earlier.....
 
nightanole said:
With a humdifier you are lucky to make it 10 days before you get lots of floaties.
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Looks somewhat like the top of my childhood vaporizer (except for the "floaties").
Do lids help? I'm thinking some contaminants may be coming out of the air as or with dust(?)
I got a lid with the reservoir I'm using for the MK. So far—so good. ?
 
Klyde O'Scope said:
Looks somewhat like the top of my childhood vaporizer (except for the "floaties").
Do lids help? I'm thinking some contaminants may be coming out of the air as or with dust(?)
I got a lid with the reservoir I'm using for the MK. So far—so good. ?
Click to expand...

I get zero "stuff" in the clearish reservoir. All the pink algae / bacteria is in the sonic section that gets zero light, and the tube from the sonic disk to the outside world.
 
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